Bruce Campbell Gives His Blessing to Evil Dead Moving On Without Him

Bruce Campbell gives his blessing to more Evil Dead movies or TV shows being made without him, now that he's retired from playing Ash. Comprising 1981's original The Evil Dead, 1987's Evil Dead II, and 1992's Army of Darkness, director Sam Raimi's classic Evil Dead trilogy is one of the most beloved franchises in horror history. Its hero, Ash Williams - wielder of a chainsaw where his hand used to be - has become a pop culture icon, and catchphrases such as "Groovy" and "Hail to the King, Baby" are now legendary.

For over two decades following the release of Army of Darkness, Evil Dead laid dormant - outside of a pretty well-received remake of the original by director Fede Alvarez in 2013 - and many fans thought that Campbell's Ash was done for good. However, it would seem that Ash wasn't ready to be relegated to history quite yet, with Campbell returning to star in Starz's Ash vs Evil Dead TV series, which premiered in 2015. The show ran for three seasons, and was mostly cheered on by franchise fans. Sadly, Starz canceled it last month, much to the chagrin of all involved.

Shortly after Ash vs Evil Dead was canceled, Campbell took to social media to announce that he'd officially "retired as Ash." This was said in response to a brief fan effort to get Netflix to pick up the series, which naturally ended once Campbell bowed out. So, without Ash, Evil Dead must be done, right? Actually, not so fast. In response to a recent fan question on Twitter, Campbell said he fully supports continuing to tell stories within the Evil Dead universe, even though he seemingly won't be involved. Check out his tweet below.

One assumes Campbell's blessing remains in effect regardless of whether those behind the Evil Dead franchise wanted to continue the story in movie form or as another TV series. Some Ash vs Evil Dead fans have suggested that popular supporting characters Pablo (Ray Santiago) and Kelly (Dana DeLorenzo) should star in their own spinoff series, but Starz seems unwilling to lose the rights to Ash vs Evil Dead - since they can still make money for years to come via licensing and merchandising the three seasons that aired - and that probably extends to characters created for that show as well. In other words, the chances of a Pablo and Kelly spinoff are likely remote.

On the movie side, Evil Dead producer Rob Tapert recently said at Motor City Comic Con that he and Sam Raimi had been considering making another Evil Dead movie if Ash vs Evil Dead got canceled, but that those plans were halted when Campbell let them know he wasn't coming back. One wonders if they would be willing to reconsider moving on with the main series without Ash, although that probably wouldn't go over well with fans. Another possibility is a sequel to Alvarez's Jane Levy-fronted remake, as the director recently queried fans on whether they would rather him make an Evil Dead or Don't Breathe sequel as his next film, and Evil Dead won pretty easily. Whatever happens, at least it won't upset "El Jefe."